Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Just a Paddle

I walk my boat to the south end of Lake Union. It is gray and warm with a steady 10 mph wind out of the southwest. The boat launch I planned to use was closed for park redesign, so I set in over a low rock wall from a parking lot a hundred yards north. It works just as well. Sailboats are out in Lake Union today and I have an easy downwind paddle to the north end of the lake where I head east into Portage Bay. From there, it is farther east, through the cut into Union Bay. It rains. I put my rain jacket on. It stops raining. I take my rain jacket off. I paddle into some lily pads near marsh island. It rains. I put my rain jacket on. It stops raining. I take my rain jacket off. I continue past the burial island and around the east marsh. A drifting buoy that is beginning to break up is in the cattails. It has been in this area for several weeks and I assume that the owning government agency is not going to retrieve it, ever, so I tie a rope to it and tow it. It looks weird, following me with it's head tipped toward me with intent. It tows easier than a truck tire, in case anyone is interested. I bring it to shore, but it weighs so much that I can not lift it at all let alone get it in the canoe. So, back into the water and I tow it to my exit point, where I roll the great beast to the nearest garbage can, not that I expect the garbage man to take it, of course. But, it is not in the lake shedding foam and plastic bits.

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The Who, What, and Why

The first 300+ entries in this blog were from the Seattle area on the west coast of North America. Starting with October 5, 2012, my blog (and myself for that matter) has moved to Connecticut on the east coast. I have a lot to learn about my new home. I paddle solo most of the time, but I do take others on many trips. Photographs are shot from the canoe on the day of the trip. The writing is done by pencil and paper in the canoe.

I am an interdisciplinary artist creating content-driven and concept-driven artwork in a diverse selection of materials and themes with a very strong recent emphasis on nature and ecology. I was the Rubicon Foundation/Smoke Farm Artist in Residence for 2011-2012. I now live in Connecticut.